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Wednesday, 24 August 2016

Controller of Channel 4 on her vision for the channel

Controller of Channel 4 Jay Hunt has spoken of her plans for the channel and how 4 has been performing in the past year to an audience of industry insiders at this year's Edinburgh TV Fest.

Hunt believes 'Channel 4 has a different approach to risk-taking.

One of the big things she says was that they don't often give up on a show and that if something's not working they'll try to analyse what it is that isn't. Perfect example she gave was First Dates.

Hunt is 'very proud' of creative factual entertainment formats such as First Dates, Eden and The Island which explore what it means to survive in the modern world.

Jay remained tight lipped on whether the channel would move to Birmingham but 'would welcome the change' if it were to happen.

She also talked about the spectre of privatization and how the conversation hasn't moved on much from last year however the talk about Channel 4 losing the market share is just lies as they saw a growth in their market share last year.

On the recent decision to axe comedy Raised by Wolves Hunt rubbished creator Catlin Moran's claims that it was cancelled because it was a working class sitcom cited other working class sitcoms on the channel including Chewing Gum. Hunt wished Moran the best and hopes the show can find a new home.

When asked about the channel losing Black Mirror to Netflix, Hunt criticised the press story about not taking the opportunity to renew. Said the show took a lot of money to produce and producing a series of ten episodes meant saying now to other potential comedy partners. She also felt that the team behind behind the series didn't show enough loyalty to her as she was the one who took the brave step of airing the show in the first place.

Hunt also discussed the recent decision to end Deal or No Deal speaking of how it had been losing money for some time now. She reveled the channel are already in talks with Noel Edmonds about other potential pilots and feels that he's an asset to the channel. Thinks if the new touring version of Deal or No Deal does well then there's a possibility that this version of the show will stay on the air.

Hunt spoke passionately about the channel's new commitment to programmes aimed at 10-14 year olds. She said they've already had success in this market with the likes of Gogglesprogs and Child Genius. New commissions aimed at the older child market include 8pm drama The ABC and a new series which sees Guy Martin teach a group of young people about engineering. Additionally looking to do something creative with the post-Hollyoaks slot on E4.

Hunt cited dating series Naked Attraction as an example of C4's dedication to dangerous programming and said that it challenges peoples ideas of sexuality.